About 200 suppliers are taking stands at the forthcoming Business Travel Show at Olympia, London on February 1-3
The exhibitors range from major TMCs like American Express, CWT and BTI through airlines, hotel chains, IT companies and airports to chauffeur drive car companies.
Among the first time exhibitors are Reed and Mackay, an independent UK TMC with a strong clientele in the City of London and last.minute.com which will be promoting its corporate divisions Travelstore.com and First Options.
A UK company called Holiday Taxis is also launching a service for business travellers, BusinessTaxis.com which aims to cover 100 city destinations initially with for both airport transfers and chauffeur services.
Among the new products to be launched at the show is the long awaited Vista for Business software from GDS and IT solutions company Amadeus while its sister company e-Travel will be displaying the latest version of its Aergo self-booking tool.
The three-day show also has a full programme of seminars and Masterclasses. Here topics range from preparing to adopt self-booking tools through the possible impact of GDS de-regulation, outsourcing travel management and using online agencies to finding the lowest air fares and booking the lowest hotel rates.
Among the speakers are Ken Gledhill, travel manager for AstraZeneca, Bernard Harrop, industry affairs spokesman for American Express, Tom Stone, chairman of ITM, Jean-Pierre Remy, ceo of Expedia Corporate Travel Europe and Margaret Bowler, general manager hotel relations for BTI.
Mr Paul Robin, event director for organisers Centaur Exhibition, said the London show, one of the biggest business travel events in Europe, would enable buyers to “find the best solutions to their company's travel needs” while the seminars provided “something to learn for everyone.”
For full detail of exhibitors at the BTS, including the Travel Technology Show running parallel with main event, and the seminar programme, see www.businesstravelshow.com.